Mazda strengthens marketing of new models to lure Cebu buyers

Sun.Star Cebu <> Monday, April 20, 2009

BY NANCY R. CUDIS, Sun.Star Staff Reporter

THE Cebu dealership of Japanese car manufacturer Mazda is beefing up marketing efforts to penetrate more buyers from the younger generation for its MX-5.

This year, the Visayas and Mindanao markets will get to either witness or participate in test drives, more mall displays, and Mazda Cebu-sponsored sport events that feature the two-seater open-top sports car.

Last week, Mazda Cebu displayed MX-5 at Parkmall for the first time outside its showroom in the North Reclamation Area. The exhibit attracted many walk-in and telephone inquiries about the product.

MAZDA AT PARKMALL (Photo by NANCY R. CUDIS/nrcportfolio)

This manifests, according to Mazda Cebu operations manager Michael Bandalan, the growing popularity of the third generation MX-5 in the Philippines since it debuted last year.

In an interview during the Parkmall exhibit, he said that Mazda Cebu alone already sold at least four units to professionals and retirees from the VisMin area, the youngest of which is 40 years old.

He said that some possible reasons younger professionals and sports car enthusiasts have not yet bought a Mazda MX-5 is due to the fact that Cebu is a “conservative” market and the car may be expensive for first-time buyers.

“We are confident that MX-5 will click in Cebu where there are many sports enthusiasts. The feeling of driving it is different, too. It is fast and light, and its size fits well for the Asian market,” he said.

He added that their optimism is also fueled by Mazda Cebu’s offer of P199,000 all-in down payment for MX-5. This promo offer, which is until April 30, is available for financing.

Bandalan said that due to the car’s agility, they are also eyeing potential buyers living in uphill subdivisions.

Mazda MX-5 costs P2.1 million. It is equipped with 2.0L DOHC 16-valve engine with VVT, six-speed manual transmission, and a power-retractable hard top, 17-inch alloy wheels, seven-speaker BOSE audio system, and leather seats, among others. Presently, it comes in four colors—red, grey, black and blue.

Bandalan said it was designed with lightness and responsiveness in mind. The rear-wheel drive chassis layout of the car ensures 50/50 weight distribution for outstanding balance and agility.

It is also equipped with light aluminum long armed Double-wishbone front suspension and newly developed multi-link rear suspension with five links. NRC

“P.S. I had a chance to test drive this car. And the feeling was overwhelmingly great–the efficiency, the speed, the look. It’s a Mazda, for crying out loud. This one sure is cool.”

Filed under: Business

Random thoughts on communication

On the sidelines

Today, I planned to write about the importance of communication in love relationships. But when I opened my netbook, in my usual unhealthy impulse, I decided to minimize the love aspect in the picture and bring random thoughts (admittedly, with no clear sense of direction) into the foreground.

Gatekeepers

One of the very few theories I learned back in college concerning communication is the role of media—where a wide expanse of information tailored for communication lies—as a gatekepeer. Well, when I was lucky to get a job in a newspaper, I realized that the gatekeeping theory is no longer a theory. Media set off the public talking and discussing topics.

The bottomline is: proper communication leads to proper decisions and actions.

As soon as a sensational banner is seen on the newsstands, the public reacts—sympathize with the victim, express anger over suspects, organize rallies, start a signature campaign, complain to media outlets for sensationalizing headlines, and even decide not to read sensational stories. Whatever the reaction is, the goal of the gatekeeper is achieved.

The bottomline is: proper communication leads to proper decisions and actions.

Plagiarism

On the other side of the coin, the reactions prompted by news stories are important manifestations of the need to properly communicate accurate information.

Accuracy, of course, does not follow that one just have to copy other people’s works. It’s not even proper communication. For me, plagiarism is a mortal sin. Not only does the copycat show disrespect to the original writer, the act also indicate laziness to learn and betrayal to the publishers and to the readers.

I have to admit that when I started writing for the high school paper a decade ago, my first two works were plagiarized (My editor then, Patty, doesn’t know until now). At that time, I was conscience-stricken when I saw my name for an article I didn’t write, got hunted by the act, and vowed never to do it again. When I do, I will most probably stop writing for a while.

When I recently saw a blog about a certain writer whose literary work by a contributor  of a local newspaper (my employer’s competitor), I reacted—quite passionately—about how the world should be while being disgusted that some professional people could easily copy and paste. Afterwards, I reminded myself that life is unfair and some people are just so messed up.

After word

Culture differences. This is how I would comfort myself after I would read a romantic novel about two people who fell in love in the outskirts of New York, USA. Then I would go looking for a love story written by a Filipino author, which makes a lot of sense to me.

The common flaw in the plots of these foreign novels (the ones I’ve read, that is) is the lack of communication between couples. They project a lot of emotions and manifest very little intellectual connections between an infatuated female and a macho man. Well, I guess I am just disappointed.

After all, for me, there is only one secret to a healthy and happy relationship. It’s not love. It’s the intimate talks and, as they say, the chemistry that these conversations evoke.

I gave away most of these books to a non-government organization that would sell them in order to buy educational materials for pupils in the mountain barangays. The others I kept on my shelf because they passed my tastes; they indicate the importance of direct (not necessarily tactless) and honest conversations of two ordinary citizens, illustrating the kind of communication I would want to happen in my life. After all, for me, there is only one secret to a healthy and happy relationship. It’s not love. It’s the intimate talks and, as they say, the chemistry that these conversations evoke.

End.

Filed under: Personal Thoughts/Experience

Moved: Smokes

Transferred from from nrcudis.wordpress.com (October 26, 2007)

I admire smokers and would-be smokers plainly because they know what’s going to happen but they still risk doing it. I think smoking is a risk factor. In the international perspective, smokers risks their body and their environment to sweet chemicals that decay them. In Cebu, a smoker risks, too, his personality in the midst of swarming conservatives. In my home, a smoker risks himself to humiliation–because Dad will really ask him to get out of the house. I belong to a family of asthmatic darlings, that’s why. But I shall never know these risks, not until I try smoking myself. But I would tell myself that I’m already a smoker–a second-rate one, that is (you know, inhaling all the fumes from all kinds of mufflers no matter how much I try to suffocate myself with my handkerchief). And I would wonder if this is just one of my many ways of contributing to air pollution and global warming. And I would wonder, too, how several smokers would discourage would-be smokers not to take the risks of smoking because it is unnecessary, it is dangerous, but they themselves could not discourage themselves yet from taking the risks. I wonder how they could still manage to hold on to one stick after another with already quite shaky hands. Or how smokers would puff off smokes before each other’s faces unintentionally and still manage to create a great conversation. Amazing. Plain amazing. I admire smokers for their unnecessary and dangerous risks, and nothing else. Well, you could at least smoke to that, folks.

Filed under: Personal Thoughts/Experience

Moved: Prima donnas

Transferred from nrcudis.wordpress.com (October 26, 2007)

The prima donnas I know sing on television. It’s a bonus if they can dance. Or cook. Now, I see them just about everywhere. And they just don’t sing, or dance, or cook. They are also public speakers, speaking for or in behalf of other people, with or without their consent. It’s amazing how they can just talk; only this time, there is no rhythm or rhyme. Just plain inhuman outburst. From my silent corner (as always), I gape with awe, transfixed at what I am seeing and hearing. Sympathy drains the wits out of me–for the victims, the targets, the subjects of the heartless composition. I feel numb with helplessness. And choose not to speak. And choose not to join in the singing of another kind of music. Bad music. I’m familiar with it. I just don’t like it. I’m certain I don’t have to like it to be liked. So I choose my modest corner instead, and sing happy thoughts to myself. I pray I won’t find my feet tapping to the rhythm of their music.

Filed under: Personal Thoughts/Experience

Moved: I stopped blogging

From nrcudis.wordpress.com (October 26, 2007)

I stopped blogging more than a year ago. That was when I was hooked to computer games like Sims 2 and became lazy. I still am now (hooked to computer games, that is), but I’m quite bored with it. Funny how I can build fantasy homes on screen when I couldn’t even save up, no matter how much I tried. I just don’t know where my money goes. Well, that’s dangerous, I know. I have expensive tuition in school, for one. So I will stop studying for now. And work. I buy and eat a lot of sweets, too. Those who know me wouldn’t be surprised if I have gained some seven to ten pounds from my ideal 118 lbs. over the past three months. So, as I was saying, I got bored with Sims 2, Rocket Mania, Box World, Insaniquarium, and other computer games that are within my mental capacity. So I went back to blogging. At WordPress. Not only because someone–a computer genius, I must say–recommended it, but perhaps the word “press” rings a whole new world of possibilities with words. Well, I hope I can stick around longer this time.

Filed under: Personal Thoughts/Experience